Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a drilling tool, and more specifically to a device that locates drilling holes.
Description of the Related Art
During manufacture of structures, it is may be necessary to drill holes to accommodate fasteners to join multiple parts. In some instances, an operator may not be able to clearly see where the drill hole is being placed during the drilling operation. For example, the wing structures of certain types of relatively large commercial aircraft have a number of components that are connected together to form the finished wing. Such components include, for example, two skins, stringers, ribs, bulkheads, and seal pans. The bulkheads and seal pans are positioned generally perpendicular to the span of the wing and serve to seal off sections of the wing. The bulkheads extend between opposite sets of stringers, and the seal pans seal the openings formed between the stringers on each outboard side of the bulkheads.
During the construction of a wing, the stringers and seal pans are riveted to the corresponding skin panel, the ribs are riveted to the stringers, and the bulkheads are riveted to the ribs. The rivets maintain all of the parts in relationship to each other during assembly, but further fasteners are required to ensure the structural integrity of the wing during flight. For example, a fastener is required at each point where there is a stack-up of a seal pan flange, stringer flange, and rib flange. However, areas requiring fasteners are often located in inconvenient places which may be difficult to access and/or clearly see. Therefore, placement of fasteners often occurs blindly without an operator having a clear visual of the location to be fastened.
Contemporary drilling devices for placement of fasteners utilize two hard index features to locate the drilling motor in the correct position for drilling. In operation, an operator pushes the hard index features against components of the aircraft to ensure proper placement before drilling. However, the operator cannot on occasion see to verify that the indexing features are in contact with the airplane components, resulting in drilling of holes in undesired locations, resulting in extensive rework to correct the issue.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus that facilitates consistent placement of holes for fasteners during manufacture of structures.